At a summit in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting on Monday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said he was hopeful about security talks with Israel. 

But when asked if Syria would join the Abraham Accords, under which three Arab nations normalised relations with Israel, Sharaa voiced doubts about Israel's regional intentions.

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, visiting New York for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), voiced hope Monday for a security deal that eases tensions with Israel but he played down the prospect of recognition.

Sharaa, a former al Qaeda leader, led rebel forces that overthrew longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December. He is set to deliver the first address in decades by a Syrian leader to the General Assembly.

Syrian officials have set a goal of reaching military and security agreements by the end of the year with Israel, whose military has repeatedly battered its neighbour and longtime adversary since Assad's fall.

"I hope that that will lead us to an agreement that will keep the sovereignty of Syria and also resolve some of the security fears of Israel," Sharaa told the Concordia summit at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN summit.

But he baulked when asked if Syria would join the so-called Abraham Accords, in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalised relations with Israel in 2020.

"Syria is different as those that are part of the Abraham Accords are not Israel's neighbours. Syria has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli raids, strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights into Syria," he said.

He voiced doubts about trusting Israel, questioning whether it sought to expand in Syria and charging that Israel has violated peace agreements with two other neighbours, Egypt and Jordan.

"There is also huge anger over what's going on in Gaza, not only in Syria but in the entire world, and of course this impacts our position on Israel," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that there was a new window of possibility for peace with both Syria and Lebanon after an Israeli military campaign devastated Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militant movement that was close to Assad.

Sharaa on Monday met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Neither man spoke as they posed for photos ahead of their US-hosted meeting at Rubio’s midtown Manhattan hotel.